Process for producing wax from other hydrocarbons.



1 W. M. BURTON. PROCESS FOR PRODUCING WAX FROM OTHER HYDROGARBONS. APPLICATION FILED JAN.21, 1914.

11,1 12,1 1 3, v Patented Sept.29,1914.

, a citizen vofthe United States,

- from other Hydrocarbons,

. UNITED STATES ()FFICE."

WILL I AiIM IlI. wamomo fcmcmo, rumors, ns'si'enon TO s'rAn'nAnn 011.- COMPANY,

or wrn'rnve, INDIANA, A CORPORATION or INDIANA.

Pnocnss iron PRODUCING WAXIIEROM OTHER HYDROCARBONSL Application filed mute 21, '19 14. Serial a... 813,567.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.-

To all whomitmag concern):

Be it own that I, WILLIAM M. BURTON, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement ina Process for Producing Wax A I p V of which the following is'a specification." My invention is .a process for producing paraffin wax from other-hydrocarbons, its object being-to secure t his relatively valuable product from cheap raw material, and in a manner to permitother valuable products to be secured-as'well,

I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings in a diagrammatic way such apparatus as may be conveniently used for the purpose.

The single figure sents the different devices employed in such diagrammatic form as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the process,

the various steps being shown as clearly as is possible thereon.

In the practice of my process, I place in the still 1 a charge of hydrocarbon with a' relatively high boiling-point,-such as fuel oil, this oil being a relatively cheap material produced in the distillation of petroleum.

It is among theleast valuable products of an oil refinery and up to a comparatively recent time has been useful principally for fuel purposes. It is" sometimes used commercially for enriching water gas, hence, its synonymous name, gas oil. All the more valuable constituents are removed from it before my process commences. These valuable constituents include wax and viscous oils which are suitable for lubricants, and all low boiling-point fractions. The material which is used as the raw material in the present process is well lmown in the trade and under the name by which I have referred to it. But while this cheap fuel oil is the preferred raw materiahthe novel re actions involved in the present process are not confined to that material and its particular enumeration and description must be understood'by Way of a de ite and presure is pre erably i: to 5 atmospheres and of the drawing repre ferred example. This charge is distilled in the still under pressure and at the hlgh temperature re uired by the pressure. The pres-.

. the temperature will 650 to 850 F. The vaporspass through a condenser 2-, the distillate accumulating a receiving drum. 'unco ridensable gases and light vaporspass outth rough an outlet 4. The pressure within Begun l.is preferably maintained at the esired, by manipulation ofitheoutlet' 4:, the vap'ors being t held u de P su n t crib? .1 1. the v still but while undergoing condensation; The distillatewhich' accumulates tlie peyg ceiving drum 3 is crude gasolene. proc ess h f mi e n t r erre i im', is that of'm y" atent No. 1',049,667,"but"the present process may utilize other processes than those therein described and claimed as far as the efliciency as a wax-making process it is not necessary to follow that practice, as

1 is concerned. While, theoretically speaking,

a measure of commercial efiiciency the practice of that patent is preferable as the first step in the present process. Similarly, as a measure of commercial advantage, it is desirable to employ, all other aids to commercial efliciency, such, for instance,'as extensive catalyzing surfaces in the still 1. Such surfaces are fully described and ex lained in the application of Robert E. umphreys, Serial No. 813,220, filed January 20, 1914, Process of distilling petroleum, and are now in practical use on a large scale. When operating under suchpreferred conditions, the distillation in the still 1 can be carried on until about two-thirds of the original charge has passed over, one-third remaining in the still as residuum. The residuum from still 1 is then transferred to a second still 5 and further distilled at atmospheric pressure until all the charge has passed over or has left a small residuum of coke. Thiscoke residuum is verysmalhit being possible to distil practically all of the residue from the still 1 in the still 5. The distillate from the still 5 passes through a condenser 6,'where it condenses and flows into a receiving drum 7. The distillate in the receiving drum 7 (or if desired, any fractional part thereof) is drawn oil through a pump 8, and is passed through an oil-ch1lling machine 9 and into a. press 10. The oil-chilling machine and press are diagrammaticall illustrated, since both. structures are well own in the art and any ordinary devlces intended for the purpose may be used. The oil-chilling machine is here shown as consisting of a series of pipes for the oil, each of which is jacketed, the intermediate space thus formed receiving chilled brine. The press will remove from the chilled oil a considerable quantity of paraflin wax, the amount being about two per cent. of the residuum distilled in the still 5. The oil expressed may be put through the operation again either by being returned directly to the still 1 or by being mixed with a fresh charge of fuel oil, but the parafin remaining in the press is removed in the usual way. It will be seen, therefore, that the present process must involve a genuine synthesis, or at least a rearrangement of the hydrocarbon molecules, since the charge placed in the'still 1 has its wax removed before the process commences, while the distillate in the receiving drum 7 contains a considerable percentage of paraffin wax which can be removed therefrom by the ordinary processes diagrammatically illustrated.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The process of producing wax, which consists in successively practicing the following steps, (1) distilling a wax free hydrocarbon of high boiling point under ressure and at a temperature necessitate by the pressure, (2) distilling the residuum of the first distillation at a low pressure, (3) chilling the distillate of the second distillation, and (4.) pressing out the wax.

2. The process of producing wax, which consists in distilling a wax free hydrocarbon of relatively high boiling point under a pressure of above 4 atmospheres and a tem peratureof above 650 F., then distilling the residuum of the first distillation at a low pressure, then chilling the distillate of the second distillation and pressing out the wax.

WILLIAM M. BURTON.

In presence off- A. C. FISCHER, D. C. THORSEN. 

